The Price of Perfection
by raynietheelf
Summary: Sansa's perfect. Arya is not.
1. Chapter 1

I noticed him the minute he walked in. With that stupid hair, who wouldn't. Red with a white streak? Please, you're not bacon. Hair aside, though, that kid was nothing short of beautiful. I stared at him as he talked to the teacher. Ms. Melisandre pointed to me.

Of course he had to sit right by me. It apparently reads in the universal book of bullshit that when there is a new kid, Arya Stark is the one to seat him by. I glanced over at him, and was embarrassed when he caught me. He offered up his name.

"My name is Jaqen H'ghar." _Fucking stupid name. _His voice was smooth, with some crazy accent I couldn't place.

"Arya."

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. They were blue, almost like Sansa's, except hers were prettier. Everything about her was always prettier. I wondered if Jaqen had met Sansa first, would he still be here crinkling his eyes at me like that? The rest of biology passed in silence, and when the bell finally rang, I threw my things into my bag and headed off to find my friends Hot Pie and Gendry.

No one actually knows what Hot Pie's real name is, nor do they care. They called him Hot Pie because Joffrey once force fed him a pie until he threw up, and was eventually rescued by Gendry. Gendry, not a lot of messed with him. He was everything Hot Pie was not: tall, muscular, and not hideous.

I spotted them beneath the choir banner in the commons of the school. My sister stood near them, handing out flyers for the choir auditions later on. Of course, she would make it. She was fucking perfect, wasn't she?

"Gendry! Hot Pie!" I called, over the roar of the crowd. Lunchtime was crazy, everyone racing for the doors like a fucking stampede. I snorted at the mental image of everyone as cows. Gendry sauntered over, Hot Pie in tow.

"I'm hungry for Chipotle, dude. Let's go." Gendry grabbed my shoulder and pushed his way through the crowd, trying to reach a door. He wasn't paying attention and ran into one of the meanest mother fuckers I'd ever met. I don't even know how Gendry hadn't seen Sandor. The Hound's ugly, burnt face was like a beacon, people scrambled to stay out of the way for him before he crushed them with his iron rage. I'd seen what he could do first hand.

"Watch it, asshole." The Hound's quiet snarl could be heard over the crowd. Although he was smaller than Sandor, Gendry always boasted about how he could take the Hound in a fight, but no one actually believed him. Predictably, I watched Gendry apologize to him, before continuing on his way.

"You could have taken him right?" I teased him as we reached the piece of shit that he rode around in. Gendry's ears turned red. Hot Pie spoke up.

"Maybe he was just too hungry." I laughed at that.

"That's gotta be the most bullshit excuse I have ever heard."

"Well, he didn't attack me!" Gendry exclaimed. I loved antagonizing people. Gendry reacted almost as well as Sansa did.

"Still pretty weak, dude."

Gendry grumbled as he unlocked the car and we climbed in. I dug around in my backpack for my wallet. As the car sputtered down the street, weaving through traffic to the best of it's abilities, I saw him.

Bacon hair floated over the long line of cars, bobbing as he walked with his weird ass strut. He got closer to our car, cigarette dangling from long, thin fingers. I saw the smoke roll out from between his lips. Before I knew what I was doing, I had opened the car door.

"Jaqen, come on. Get in!" I called over the sounds of people honking at me and Hot Pie's incredulous grunting. He looked up, blue eyes brightening at me. Taking another drag, he threw the cigarette down and stomped on it before climbing in the car with us.

"Hello, lovely girl." His smile bright, like a movie star's. I could see Gendry out of the corner of my eye. He looked pissed.

It's been obvious to me since day one that Gendry had his little "thing" for me. I didn't know what to call it. Lust? Crush? I don't know. At first it felt good, because for once someone was interested in _me_, not Sansa, but when I realized that I would probably never feel for Gendry what he felt for me, the novelty faded. I didn't like it, the way he looked at me when he thought I couldn't see.

Silently, he pulled up to Chipotle. I flung open my door and dashed towards the restaurant. "Hurry up!"

Jaqen looked nervous. "I've never eaten here before," he confessed. I took his hand.

"It's my favorite," I assured him. Doors swinging shut behind me, I didn't miss Gendry's expressin as he followed me and Jaqen into the restaurant.

* * *

Hey! I've been kind of busy (read: i got Netflix) since I finished WFLT, so I haven't posted as much stuff as I wanted to. Before making this official, I wanted to go ahead and try to get your opinions on it. What's working, what can go? I'm planning on making it a little dark, a little angsty. I appreciate any, and all, input. Thank you.

Raynie


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm alive! Recently, I've been getting into a lot of new fandoms, like Sherlock and Doctor Who. Not to mention the Avengers came out. (If you care, I've got a Brutasha one shot waiting for you.) That's not an excuse, though, but hey, here is the next chapter. Read and review!_

* * *

After our lunchtime excursion, Jaqen had become a regular part of my daily routine. His texts woke me up in the morning, and were the last things I saw before going to sleep at night. It seemed that fake, organic Mexican food had a way of joining people. Even though I only knew him a total of maybe five weeks, I felt like Jaqen was an old friend.

I looked forward to seeing him in biology everyday, looked forward to teasing him about his hair and his accent. Jaqen became my favorite person in that class, especially when I found out about the cat dissections.

Don't get me wrong; Arya Stark is not a girly girl, but dissections really got to me. It had something to do with the cloyed scent of formaldehyde and the unnatural gray tissue it left behind. I didn't like the idea that the poor creature under my scalpel died just for this purpose. It seemed like a very sad existence.

"What is this?" I asked, poking something lumpy and grey with the tip of my scalpel. Jaqen wrinkled his nose as he laughed.

"Um, stomach. I think. Hold on," he said, shuffling through the dissecting guide. "Yeah. Stomach." With fingers too good at what they were doing, he reached into the cat's body and pulled it out, trailing entrails behind it. I gagged.

"Ew! You're splattering that everywhere!" I stepped away from him. He stood there, stomach grasped tightly in his fist, and laughed at me.

"So squeamish."

"Am not!" There was no way he was going to let this go, I just knew. Jaqen wasn't that type of person. Just last week, he'd earned a shove from Gendry by teasing him about his fear of spiders. "We're supposed to eat after this too."

"I'm just going to go home. I'm done with school today." He stripped the skin off of the cat as he talked to me, revealing wiry muscles patterned with black veins. I looked around and watched the others struggling with the same task. Jaqen was a little too good at this, to be honest. It was freaking me out.

"Ugh," I groaned, as he pulled out another shapeless organ. My breakfast was creeping its way into my throat. "Can I come over?"

"Clean up! You have five minutes!" Ms. Mellisandre yelled.

Jaqen arched his eyebrow at me. "Can you what?"

"Can I come over?"

The surgical tools clattered as he washed them. I gingerly bagged the corpse of the cat for disposal. He sighed, then looked up at me.'

"I don't see why not. I'm warning you though, I'm not the cleanest person."

I had to laugh at that. My adopted brother, Theon, was literally the most disgusting person I had ever met. After helping Theon clean so he could move out, there wasn't much that really bothered me, dissections being an example of something that still did. For Christ's sake, I watched Hoarders because I thought it was funny. Mess was no problemo.

"I can handle mess, Jaqen."

"Maybe I just don't want you over."

I blinked. "Then say no."

He furrowed his brow, then sighed. "Alright. Suit yourself. Meet me at my car."

The bell rang, dismissing us. I dashed out the door to tell Gendry that I wouldn't be going to chipotle with them. My momentum carried me right into the Hound. Before I could apologize, his huge hand reached out and grabbed me.

"Watch where you're going, girl," he growled at me. Grey. His eyes were grey, like Jon and mine. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Maybe, if you weren't just standing in the middle of the fucking hallway, people wouldn't run into you," I snarled back. His eyes widened. He looked surprised that I actually talked back to him. His grip loosened and allowed me to pull away. With a quick glance back, I saw he wasn't following me. He'd probably went to chase after Joffrey. I grabbed what I needed out of my locker and went out to Jaqen's car. He was sitting in it already waiting.

"Jesus, what took you so long?" He asked, after exhaling a cloud of smoke. I saw the bright orange tip of his cigarette through the tint of the half open window.

"I ran into Sandor."

"Ah. I see. Get in. I'm starving."

I climbed into his Impala, breathing in the familiar scent of cigarette smoke and Jaqen. Pushing the litter on the seat to the floor, I sat down and buckled up. "Can we get some Chipotle first? I'll buy."

He raised his eye brow at me, but didn't answer. Jaqen wasn't one for words, I'd found. Instead, he turned the music up and took the familiar path to Chipotle. Before the car even came to a complete stop, I had opened the door and made a mad dash inside. I knew Jaqen's order by heart and had no problem reciting it now in an almost sing song voice. When our orders were complete, I got us an extra bag of chips and guacamole before rejoining Jaqen in his car. I was super hungry. One burrito bowl wouldn't cut it for this kid. Jaqen was on his second cigarette when I finished getting our food.

"You didn't have to do that, girl. Now I owe you."

"It's not a big deal. You're my friend." I set the brown paper bags down in my lap and urged him to go. The Impala pulled out of the parking spot and we were off to his apartment, house, dirt mound, wherever he lived. The excitement was making itself present in my stomach. I'd never had the chance to skip school before. Gendry was on scholarship so he wouldn't dare miss class. And Hot Pie? Fuck that. Hot Pie worshipped Gendry. There was no way he would do something Gendry would disapprove of. And then, here I was, running off with some boy I just met this year.

The streets became unfamiliar as Motley Crue blared from the speakers. Jaqen hummed along, singing a few words here and there as I stared out the window, trying to figure out where I was. He pulled up to some crumbly, old building and got out.

"We're here." He gestured to an old yellow duplex. "I'm Jaqen H'ghar and welcome to my crib." That goofy smile appeared on his lips. I debated whether I should bring my things in or not, but eventually decided just to leave them. If someone wanted to steal my school books, then so be it. They must have more need than I.

I heard the jangle of keys when Jaqen pulled them out to unlock his door. When it opened, I was hit with more of that same burnt cigarette smell, mixed with household Febreeze. Inhaling, I entered Jaqen's house.

The living room wasn't very big, with only one couch, a small table and a TV. There was no dining room to speak of, the kitchen took up only one corner. There were small pictures, a younger Jaqen with a red headed woman who I assumed was his mother. A small hallway led off to what I guess would be his room. I followed him into a door on the left of the hallway, glancing quickly at the closed door right across from it. I turned my attention away from the door and peered into his room.

His bed was unmade was the first thing I noticed, the sheets twisted as if he had just gotten out of bed. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. The other thing was the bookshelf. There were so many books, covers all worn from use. I scanned the titles. Great Gatsby. Perks of Being A Wallflower. Lord of the Rings. His taste in literature was eclectic.

"I like to read," he said, watching me.

I picked up a copy of one of the Harry Potter books. "I can see that."

Jaqen gestured around his room. "So there you go. This is my room. I know it's a little dirty, but hey. I'm a guy."

I had to laugh at that. "My brother Jon is a guy and he's neat. That's not even an excuse." Jaqen just rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey, listen, you don't mind if I…" he gestured to the corner of his nightstand. Sitting there was a glass pipe. I knew what it was for. I had lived with Theon for years after all.

"No, not really," I answered. I had barged into his house, after all. I shouldn't keep him from indulging himself. He packed some leaves into the pipe and lit up, sighing out a cloud of putrid smoke. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose.

"Ugh, that smells so bad. How do you do it?"

He extended the arm with the pipe. "Do you want some?"

I declined his offer and left his room so I could eat my burrito bowl in peace. I figured he would just join me when he finished. I pulled out drawer after drawer in the search for silverware when I remembered that I brought some from the restaurant. I sat on the couch and turned on the TV while I waited for him to rejoin me. My phone buzzed. I groaned as I read the text message.

_Where are you?-G_

My fingers flew over the screen as I typed back my answer.

_Hanging out with Jaqen. -A_

_Why didn't you let us know?-G_

_Shit,_ I thought to myself. I had forgotten after I ran into the Hound.

_Because you're not my mother. I don't need to ask permission from you. -A_

The phone buzzed again, but I ignored it. Gendry had gotten so maternal lately that I questioned the fact that he might have just grown a vagina. Seriously, he'd been smothering me. Dismissing thoughts of Gendry from my head, I ate my burrito bowl while I watched Sherlock, waiting for Jaqen. Soon enough, Jaqen sauntered out of his bedroom, missing a shirt and reeking of that magical Mary Jane. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"It's my house. I don't need clothes," he explained to me. I chose not to pursue the subject.

I stayed there for a couple more hours, just watching TV in silence, punctuated by a couple scattered conversations about trivial things. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed myself. Jaqen and I didn't have to talk to each other, to enjoy the other's company. We just sat there, literally doing nothing. When it got too late to stay any longer without my parents worrying, I called Jon, knowing he was the only one I think I could trust to not tell anyone about where I'd been. When Jon's silver Camry appeared in the drive way, I thanked Jaqen for letting me stay over. He blinked his bloodshot eyes and stuffed his mouth with more chipotle. I took that as a dismissal and left.

That night, while I did my homework, I thought about Jaqen. I wondered what sort of family life he had. I mean, it's obvious he didn't live alone. From what I'd seen, he lived with his Mom, but he never talked about her. I wanted to find out more about him.

My quest started the next day. I got all dressed up in a dark button down shirt and a hat, a la Sherlock style. It set the mood for my sleuthing. I grabbed a bagel from my kitchen and left the house, Gendry's car already sitting in my driveway for me.

"Where were you yesterday?" Gendry asked the minute I pulled the door open. I shrugged.

"Hanging out with Jaqen."

I didn't want to tell him any more than that. Although Gendry came from a bad part of town, "Flea Bottom" the kids dubbed it, he never condoned that type of behavior. Jaqen smoking weed around me was sure to make him go ballistic, and he already hated Jaqen as it was. I peeked over at him and, just like I knew he would be, Gendry was scowling.

"I don't-"

"Gendry, I know. You don't like him," I interrupted him. He looked surprised.

"How did you know?"

"You're not very good at hiding anything, you know. You're kind of an open book."

He gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white. His lips turned down into that familiar scowl. It had been so long since I last saw Gendry laugh. The guy was so serious all the time.

"I don't even know why you don't like him," I continued. "He's never been anything but nice to you, but you sit there and give him dirty looks. This isn't Mean Girls, Gendry. What's your issue?"

"I don't have an issue," he said, unconvincingly. I snorted.

"Then why do you hate Jaqen so much?"

"I just do, okay!" He yelled, slamming on the brakes. I sat there, stunned. Gendry turned to face me. "I don't like him. You're always sitting there whispering and giggling and acting like fucking best friends even though you've only known him a couple weeks. Even so, we don't know shit about him. Where he's from, what he does in his spare time. He's shady as fuck, Arya. When are you going to see that?"

I stared, open mouthed at his outburst. Shaking my head to clear it, I chose not to answer him. It was obvious that Gendry was just jealous. We didn't speak another word until he pulled up at the school. All I could think about was the fact that when Jaqen and I didn't talk, it wasn't awkward at all. Whatever had just happened between me and Gendry, it wasn't the same comfortable silence, at all. I wondered if Jaqen would be my new ride to school. Heaven forbid I have to go in the same car as Sansa.

I opened my locker, when it was promptly slammed shut again. I snarled and turned to face the person who was about to get their ass kicked. My line of sight was met with a black T shirt big enough to fit fucking Conan the Barbarian himself. _Sandor._ My eyes narrowed.

"What do you want, dog?" I spit at him. He laughed, a deep rumbling sound that reminded me of thunder and volcanoes and stuff like that. Dangerous stuff.

"I wanted to apologize. For yesterday," he said, his gray eyes boring into mine. They were actually really pretty. To be honest, Sandor could have been really hot, if that blanket hadn't caught fire when he was a baby. Mentally, I slapped myself. Where those thoughts came from, I had no idea.

"Well, apology accepted. Now go away." I turned back around, completely aware that he was not going away. "Go away, I said."

"Tell your sister to dump Joffrey." I whipped around, surprised at his words, but he had already left, parting the sea of students like Moses and the Red Sea.

_Tell your sister to dump Joffrey._ What did he even mean by that? Sandor was supposed to be Joffrey's best friend, his bodyguard, his dog to command. Why would he be trying to break them up?

Mr. Davos coughed at me. "Stop tapping your pencil, Miss Stark. It's distracting."

"Sorry, Mr. Davos." I set the pencil down and resumed my thoughts.

"So anyway, Shakespeare stated that…" I wasn't even listening to him. Why would Sandor tell me that? Why? Why? Why? The bell rang, and I gathered my things, just so I could lumber to my next class.

Jaqen noticed that something was bothering me. He set his things down and swiveled to face me, eye brow cocked. I wasn't going to talk first, that was plain, but apparently, neither was he. We just sat there, until Ms. Mellisandre asked for our attention. Only then did he turn to face the board. I was glad Jaqen was the way he was, no excess talking, no questions asked. He understood that if I wanted to offer information, I would. That's a skill I think Gendry needed to learn.

It was a silent agreement that Jaqen and I made during that class. After the bell rang, I put up my note book and followed him to his car. He didn't question, just unlocked the doors and let me in. With only a moment of hesitation, waiting for me to talk, he plugged in his Ipod and we sat there, Stairway to Heaven filling up the empty space. I realized that I was crying. Dabbing my tears away, I looked at him.

"Jaqen, can you take me home?" Nod. We drove on. The song changed. Something more upbeat. Jaqen broke the silence.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not." He'd so noticed.

"Correction. Why _were_ you crying?"

"Because I'm confused." And back to quiet. We drove up the bricks that lined my drive way. I opened the door and got out, not looking back. He waited, just a second, before driving away.


End file.
